Psychology Commons^™

Facilitated Communication And The Criminal Justice System, J. Robert Quillen

Senior Honors Theses and Projects - Psychology

Facilitated communication (FC) is an alleged breakthrough technique which allows individuals, previously thought to be severely mentally and developmentally challenged, to achieve a level of communication formerly thought to be impossible. Originally developed to assist individuals with physical disabilities and limitations, such as cerebral palsy, this technique has quickly been converted to one that aims to assist individuals with cognitive deficits such as autism toward achieving effective communication. This article explores the origins of facilitated communication, the ongoing debate in the scientific community regarding the reliability and validity of the technique, as well as facilitated communication's rapid integration with the …